The present invention relates to a process for treating or refining products or compounds derived from amines or amines themselves. More particularly, it relates to a process comprising treating products derived from aliphatic amines with a bleaching agent to eliminate any pink color therein.
The invention primarily relates to the treatment of amine salts, amine oxides, betaines and quaternary ammonium salts and other compounds derived from long chain alkyl amines to eliminate the pink color characteristic of such compounds when so derived.
Long chain alkyl amines are customarily produced from fatty acids or alcohols or from an intermediate raw material derived from petroleum products, particularly low polymers of ethylene such as materials well known in the art as .alpha. olefins and Ziegler alcohols. The products of such amines particularly those of the latter often have a characteristic pink color which is objectionable to some manufacturers of derivative products, especially quaternary ammonium salts. The long chain alkyl amines also display this same pink color upon acdification.
Long chain alkyl amines, such as alkyl dimethylamines are widely used as cationic surfactants and as chemical intermediates for the manufacture of quaternary ammonium compounds, amine oxides, and betaines. These products are used as biocides, disinfectants, sanitizers, textile additives, corrosion inhibitors and surfactants.
One solution to the colorization problem is illustrated by Takaku et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,306. In this patent, small amounts of alkali metal borohydrides are added to long chain aliphatic hydrocarbon amines to inhibit undesirable color formation in derivation products. Although such refining is usually effective, such borohydrides are very expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,595,921 issued to Pitts in 1971 discloses a color problem with polyethylene polyamine products and a solution for such problem by treating such products with potassium hydroxide. The patentee also discloses that fractional distillation of the product and other techniques such as treatment with activated carbon, sodium borohydride, mixtures of calcium hypochlorite and calcium hydroxide, hydrochloric acid, or oxidation of impurities with potassium dichromate, have all failed to reduce the color content of polyethylene polyamine products.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an effective and inexpensive treatment of pink colored amines and pink colored derivation products of amines to reduce or eliminate the undesirable pink color content of such amines or products.
Another object of the invention is to reduce or eliminate the characteristic pink color in acidified long chain alkyl amines prepared from petroleum products.
Another object of the invention is to reduce or eliminate the characteristic pink color in amine compounds derived from long chain alkyl amines prepared from petroleum products, especially such pink color in amine derivatized alkyl benzyl quaternary ammonium chloride salts.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from a consideration of the description hereinafter.